J J Murphy & Co. is a bar at 119 Cuba Street in Kowhai Park, Wellington, on one of the city's best-known strips and holding a 4.2 Google rating. Bars on Cuba Street vary a great deal block by block, so it pays to know what you want from an evening before you walk in. A good bar is judged less by its decor than by the basics: a well-poured pint, staff who remember an order, and a room that suits the mood, whether conversation in a corner or a full house later on. Regulars tend to arrive early, before the street's foot traffic builds, when seats are easy to find and service is unhurried. They also know that a bar that treats casual drop-ins as well as familiar faces is the one worth returning to. That mix of character and street life is what draws people to Cuba Street, and J J Murphy & Co. is part of it.